Right after Thanksgiving, G. Fox & Company decorated their magnificent store. People from across the state drove into Hartford just to marvel at the marquee. In the 1950s it featured big candles and colorful boxes. However, the marquee most people remember was the charming Colonial Village. The village included small replicas of Colonial churches and houses from across Connecticut. The front display windows were also festive and inviting. Children pressed their noses to the glass to get a better look at the brightly lit mechanical ice skating animals.
As you neared the store entrance, the excitement was contagious. A brass ensemble played Christmas carols under the portico. The revolving doors led to an art deco first floor with marble pillars wrapped in red ribbon and lights. Mobs of holiday shoppers gathered around the popular perfume, cosmetic and hosiery counters. During the holiday shopping season, Fox's employed more than 5,000 employees. These employees served 30,000 customers a day. Even Fox's executives were on hand at the top and bottom of each "moving staircase," cheerfully advising the throng of shoppers to watch their step and have a happy holiday.
Fox's was only one of Hartford's great department stores. Other high-end stores included Brown Thompson and Sage-Allen. For more specialized needs, shoppers patronized Savitt Jewelers or Wittkower's Bookstore. By the 1960s, these venerable Hartford institutions had been joined by a host of lower end chain stores: Newberry's, Grant's, Kresge's, Korvette's and Woolworths. Shoppers stopped for lunch at the G. Fox cafeteria or at one of Hartford's many popular restaurants including Honiss's Oyster House and the Marble Pillar, both right on State Street.
Today at the Connecticut Historical Society, you can recall those wonderful shopping days. A reproduction of the G. Fox holiday ornament is for sale in the CHS gift store. Numbered prints of Hartford artist Richard Welling's drawing of G. Fox at Christmas are also available. So include a visit to the Connecticut Historical Society, located at One Elizabeth Street, Hartford CT in your December holiday shopping plans.
